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Prof Prasenjit Duara among renowned experts featured at landmark China-India summit on social thought

Submitted by admin on Wed, 01/30/2013 - 15:35

NUS Website

Prof Prasenjit Duara among renowned experts featured at landmark China-India summit on social thought

NUS Director of Research and Raffles Professor of Humanities Prasenjit Duara was in Shanghai, China, recently to speak at the West Heavens Summit, the first major artistic and humanistic engagement between China and India. He was one of eight world famous thinkers invited to give lectures at this China-India summit on social thought organised by China Academy of Art and Shanghai Art Museum.

Prof Duara gave two lectures at the Summit – on “Sustainability and the Crisis of Transcendence: A Long Historical View” and “The Historical Roots and Character of Secularism in China” – which were well-attended by a couple of hundred Chinese and Western academics. During this trip, he was also highly sought after for interviews by the media from major newspapers and magazines in Shanghai.

On the Summit, Prof Duara said: “The organisers are interested in seeking China’s cultural roots within China and in Asia, and developing cultural and people-to-people relations between India and China. Their interest in Sino Indian cultural relations fits very well with NUS’ Inter-Asian connections theme at our Asia Research Institute, Global Asia Institute and the Division of Humanities & Social Sciences, Office of the Deputy President (Research & Technology); and we have discussed extending the format to Singapore as well.”

The West Heavens Summit is part of the West Heavens project which encompasses both a contemporary art exhibition and intellectual forums fostering dialogue and cultural exchange between China and India. It also produces voluminous Readers of the writings of each visiting speaker and will put together a collection of essays and reports on the discussions at the Summit lectures.